Transcript of "Unit dirt"

1.
Dirt: Secrets in the Soil
Special project of
Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
in cooperation with
Utah State University Extension
and the
Utah Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom

2.
Introduction
How to use this instructional interactive program...
Welcome to Dirt: Secrets in the Soil! This interactive program is a special project of
Utah Agriculture in the Classroom. Agriculture in the Classroom seeks to provides teachers
with the necessary tools to increase agricultural literacy among their students and at the
same time incorporate Utah Core Curriculum Standards. (For more information about
Agriculture in the Classroom visit our web site at http://ext.usu.edu/aitc.) This instructional
unit was designed specifically for use in the 4th grade but translates well into 5th grade
natural resource standards, and 9th grade Earth Systems course standards.
The video and lesson plans are an interactive package. The video is divided into six
segments and correspondingly this Educators Guide is divided into six sections. The video
introduces and discusses some of the concepts in each section in the Educators Guide. On
pages 83 and 84 you will find “Interactive Video Questions.” These questions cover the
major concepts in the segments and help your students in developing note taking skills (the
answers are noted on page 82). This Educators Guide contains several activities that can be
conducted to solidify core objectives. All the objective in the State Core are covered in this
program. But there is more than the core here. Several supplemental activities have been
added to integrate science with writing, literature, math, and yes, even art! These lessons
and activities were pilot tested by teachers and reviewed by soil scientists, soil technicians,
the Utah State Office of Education, and education staff from Utah State University and
Brigham Young University.
A number of additional activities and resources are noted in the back of this guide. An-
swers to worksheets, if necessary, are located in the lessons. Answers to the activities in the
Resource section and the “What I know about soils” test are located on page 82. The test,
“What I know about soils,” is found on page 85. These questions are not duplicates of the
ones found on the state core test, but will help your students to prepare for that test. One of
the justifications for developing this program was to increase student scores on the “state
core” test. These questions review concepts and objectives in this guide and on the video.
Workshops will be conducted over the next several years to assist educators who will be
teaching soils. Workshop attendees will receive instruction on these lessons, soil samples,
and explore the issues related to soils and the environment. Information about how to in-
crease agricultural literacy will also be discussed. The video and educators guide may be
purchased individually or as a package. For additional copies or questions contact:
Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Utah State University Extension
2315 Old Main Hill
Logan, UT 84322-2315
Phone: 435-797-1657 FAX: 435-797-1657
http://www.ext.usu.edu/aitc

3.
Acknowledgments
Utah Agriculture in the Classroom is a cooperative program supported by Utah State
University and the Utah Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.
This project was funded by the following organizations:
Utah State Board of Regents: Eisenhower Math and Science and Math Grant
Utah State University
Utah Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom
Utah Association of Conservation Districts
Grantsville Soil Conservation District
North Cache Conservation District
Blacksmith Fork Conservation District
KUTV News
Special acknowledgment is extended to:
Brett Moulding, Utah State Office of Education
Fourth grade students at Wellsville Elementary
Classroom teachers and students who assisted in pilot-testing efforts
Don Daugs, Utah State University
Marvin Tolman, Brigham Young University
Ron Nichols, Natural Resource Conservation Service
Bob Rasely, Natural Resource Conservation Service
Robert Newhall, Utah State University Extension
Rich Koenig, Utah State University Extension
Brent Bunderson, Tooele County Extension
Shauna Owens, Master Gardener, Davis County
Oklahoma Agriculture in the Classroom
Michelle King, KUTV News
Zacary Erekson, Host
Lyndee Probst, Host
Video Production:
John Greene, KUTV News
Cody D. Skinner, KUTV News
Curriculum Developer, Executive Producer, and Package Design:
Debra Spielmaker, Utah State University Extension, Agriculture in the Classroom

4.
Table of Contents
It’s Your Food Dude!
The Soil Chain 1
Soil in My Food Web 5
Soil Isn’t a Dirty Word
What’s in Soil? 9
What Makes Up Your profile? 13
Types by Texture 19
The Dust Bowl Is Not Played on New Years Day
Dark Days 25
Caring for the Land 35
Slip Slidin’ Away
Perkin’ Through the Pores 42
Keep Soil in Its Place 46
Hitting Pay Dirt
How Much Is Dirt Worth? 53
What Land Works Best? 57
Healthy Food from Healthy Soil
Secrets to Healthy Soil 64
The Rotten Truth 68
Working Worms 73
Resources 76
Interactive Video Questions 83
What I Know About Soils 85
Dirt: Secrets in the Soil

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1 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
The Soil Chain
It’s Your Food Dude!
Objectives
Students will be able to
identify their relationship
to the soil.
Students will be able to
draw a flow chart from
common objects to soil.
Materials
• paper
• pencils
• stapler or glue
• scissors
• paper for chain
• flow chart transpar-
ency
Time
Activity 1: 60 minutes
Activity 2: 30 minutes
Getting Started
Gather materials.
Procedures
Activity 1- My Soil Family
1. Show the students the list of 30 objects on page 3. For a
variation, you may ask students to help you make a list of
30 objects, things they use everyday.
2. Ask them to pick five of the objects (or more) and using a
flow chart, like the one on the bottom of the transparency,
“link” the objects back to the soil. (A flow chart uses lines
and arrows to show the relationships or direction of flow
between an object or group of objects.)
3. Many of the objects will be linked back to the soil. Some
may not. That’s okay. The transparency depicts two of the
more difficult objects students may choose to link the soil.
4. After the students have completed their flow charts, have
them select one object (or pick a new one) to create a soil
chain. Instruct students to cut out strips of paper that will
become links in a chain. Each link should be labeled as one
of the “connections” showing the objects relationship to the
soil. You might challenge students to create the longest
chain and the shortest chain. Note: It is easier to label the
links before the ends are stapled or glued together to make
the chain.
Activity 2- Ranking the Importance of Soil
1. Show the students statements on the transparency master
on page 4. Ask them to rank the statements in order of
importance.
2. Form groups of five or six students and ask the groups to
rank the statements. Ask them to be prepared to explain
why they ranked them in that order.
Discussion
1. What can you conclude about the role of soil in your life?
2. What would life be like without soil?

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2Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Background
Soil is one of our most useful natural resources. From the soil we get food, clothes and
materials for the houses we live in. From gardens and truck farms we get vegetables. Fruit
grown on trees and vines come from orchards, groves, and vineyards. Trees also give us
valuable lumber and the wood can also be used to make paper, paints and numerous other
products. Planted field crops of wheat and corn are used for making flour to make our
bread, crackers, pasta, and so many other foods. Nuts and berries come from our farms
and forests.
Our animal food also comes from the soil. Cows eat grass, hay, silage, and grain to
produce milk, meat, and leather products. All animals eat plants; plants grow in the soil. In
addition to the products listed above, animals supply us with by-products that are used in
paints, camera film, pet food, rubber, crayons, lotions, soaps, leather, medicines, and, the
list is long.
The fuel that warms our houses comes indirectly from the soil. Coal is made from plants
that grew ages ago. Oil and gas also originate from organic materials, possibly including
the remains of animals. Some of these things grew in the soil at one time or lived on things
that grew in the soil.
Fish from the sea, rivers and lakes live on plants (some on other fish). And these plants
require dissolved minerals that are washed into the sea, rivers, and lakes from the soil.
There are a few exceptions to linking things back to the soil. Here are a few examples: a
volcano, the ocean (even though plants are part of the water cycle), and the sky (although
plants give off oxygen for the air in the atmosphere).
Vocabulary
soil: Particles of minerals, organic matter (plant and animal), water, and air; that is found
on most surfaces of the land.
dirt: misplaced soil, i.e., soil on your clothes, your kitchen floor, and under your fingernails
is called dirt.

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4Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Rank the following statements in order of their
importance. Be prepared to explain why you
ranked them in that order.
Soil is important to me (or us)...
___ a) to grow plants (for food, oxygen, paper,
lots of things).
___ b) to filter out pollutants that may
contaminate drinking water.
___ c) to provide income for farmers, food
companies, clothing companies and
grocers, to name a few.
___ d) as a surface for building roads,
sidewalks, and the places where we live.
___ e) to provide food for livestock.
___ f) to walk on.
___ g) to provide wildlife and insect habitat.
___ h) . . . make up your own

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5 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Soil in My Food Web
It’s Your Food Dude!
Objectives
Students will be able to
draw and explain soils
role in the food web.
Student will be able to
discuss the importance
of soil to life.
Materials
• Soil Food Web Activity
sheet
• yarn
• index card or construc-
tion paper
• hole-punch
• scissors
• crayons or markers
Time
Activity 1: 30 minutes
Activity 2: 30 minutes
Activity 3: 30 minutes
Getting Started
Gather materials, make necessary copies, and transparencies.
Procedures
Activity 1 - My Soil Food Web
1. Provide each student with the handout “My Soil Food Web”
on page 7.
2. Students should write the name of 10 things they have
used or come in contact with that day in each box.
3. Ask each student to complete the Soil Food Web by draw-
ing arrows between themselves, the items, and their direct
connection to the soil. The item closest to the soil should
be something that has actual contact. For example, milk
can be traced to cows, cows are not directly connected to
the soil except through plants, like alfalfa and grains. These
are directly traced to the soil, and should be included as the
closest object to the soil.
4. Students should draw boxes around the items they add to
make the connections to the soil.
Activity 2 - The Yarn Web Game
1. Ask each student to pick one of the 10 items they listed for
their food web and write the items name (big) on a half
sheet of paper or on an index card. You may want to assign
the students their “parts” so you don’t get 10 cows and 10
wheat plants. They should write the name as large as
possible, preferably with marker or crayon. Then using a
piece of yarn and a hole-punch, make a necklace to hang
the sign around each students neck. One student or the
teacher must wear a sign that says “soil.”
2. Pick any student to begin by tossing a ball of yarn to some-
one else that they are related to in the food web. If they are
not related to any one of the other items, the yarn can
always be tossed to the person wearing the “soil” sign. An
intricate web should be woven. Several students should be
tossed the yarn more than once. When everyone has been
included in the web, take a look at how they are all con-
nected to the soil.

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6Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Activity 3 - What does soil mean to a . . .
1. Working in groups or as individuals, each group of students should answer the ques-
tions, “What do you think soil means to a . . . ” (see page 8). Discuss the answers.
Discussion
1. What can you conclude about the role of soil in your life?
2. Whose perspective is closest to yours when you look at the soil? Why?
2. What would life be like without soil?
Background
Soil means something different to every organism, including people, depending on the
perspective. In this activity, students are asked to look at soil from 10 different perspectives
(soil food web) and explore why each perspective is different (Activity 3). Regardless of our
point of view, all things in the food web rely upon the soil and energy from the sun to thrive.
Vocabulary
food web: Explains the relationships of various organisms on Earth.
civil engineer: engineer who designs roads, bridges, and works on buildings.
geologist: occupation that involves the study of rock, minerals and Earth’s formations and
landscapes.
hydrologist: occupation that involves the study of water and its many interactions on Earth.

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9 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
What’s in Soil?
Soil Isn’t a Dirty Word
Objectives
Students will be able to
list the four components
of soil.
Students will be able to
estimate the amount of
minerals and organic
materials in a given soil
sample.
Students will be able to
demonstrate that soil
contains air and water.
Materials
• small plastic bag of
loose, crushed, soil for
each pair of students
• newspaper
• hand lenses
• tissue paper or thin
paper towel (thick
school brown paper
towels do not work)
• overhead projector
• water
• 2-cup containers:
plastic or paper cups,
soup cans or beakers.
• 1 cup measuring cups
• Soil Components
transparency
Time
Activity 1: 30 minutes
Activity 2: 10 minutes
Activity 3: 20 minutes
Getting Started
Gather materials, make necessary copies, and transparencies.
For Activity 3, cut a 6-inch piece of yarn or string and tape one
end to the center of the “Soil Pie: Components of the Soil.” The
other end should remain loose so that you can move it up or
down to show how the percentage of water and air changes
depending on climatic conditions.
Procedures
Activity 1 - Soil Inventory
1. Divide students into pairs. Give each pair a small plastic bag
of soil (students could have brought samples from home, but
make sure that it is really soil not a soilless media like some
potting mixtures, which is for the most part organic matter).
Ask them to dump their sample out onto a newspaper.
2. Using a hand lens, ask each pair of students to write down
what they see or feel (moisture) in their sample. You may
want to let them know that the small, bead-like, particles they
see are called mineral matter. Depending on the samples,
they should see mineral pieces (little rocklike pieces), organic
matter, (leaves, sticks, straw, worms, beetles, etc.), water
(moisture, unless the soil is totally dry) and air (which they will
probably not mention, because they cannot see it).
3. Show students the “Components of Soil” transparency. All of
the items they have inventoried should fit into one of the four
soil component categories.
Activity 2 - Soil Moisture
1. Pick one of the soil samples that feels moist or appears to
have the most organic matter.
2. Place a paper towel on your overhead. Notice that it blocks
out the light. Place a drop of water on the paper towel, some
of the light now shines through.
3. Place the moist soil sample on the paper towel and after a few
minutes (depending how wet your sample is) dump off the
soil. Check to see if the soil left any moisture in the towel by
placing it on the lit overhead. Soils do hold moisture.

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10Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Activity 3 - Soil Air
1. Ask each student group or pair to place 1 cup of dry soil into a 2-cup container.
2. Students should slowly pour 1 cup of water into the soil container until the soil is
“saturated” or all the dry soil is “mud.” While they were pouring the water they should
notice the “air bubbles” that are rising to the surface.
3. Students should measure the amount of water left and subtract it from 1 cup.
4. Lead students to infer that the amount of water in the soil sample was approximately the
amount of air that was displaced. As the students added the water to the sample, they
should have seen bubbles, until the sample was saturated.
5. Have students compare the amount of water that they were able to pour into their soil
samples. There will be differences depending on the soil texture and organic matter.
What is the percentage of air in the soil sample? If they were able to add a 1/4 cup of
water, the sample contained 25 percent air.
6. Using the components of the soil transparency, and the movable yarn, explain how air
and water amounts change.
Discussion
1. What are the components of soil? (mineral matter, organic matter, water, air)
2. Which two components are the most variable? (water and air) Why?
3. Why do worms come up to the surface after a drenching rain? (to breathe)
Background
Soil is naturally occurring, unconsolidated or loose material at the surface of the earth,
which is capable of supporting plant and animal life. In simple terms, soil is comprised of
three components: solid, liquid, and gas. The solid phase which accounts for approxi-
mately 50 percent of the volume in a typical soil is a mixture of mineral and organic matter
and gives soil its mass. Soil particles fit loosely (depending on the particle size) leaving
“empty” pore spaces. The pore spaces are then filled with water (liquid) and air (gas). The
water and air in an “average” soil make up the other half of the soil’s volume.
All soils are made up of the four major components; however the portions will vary. The
mineral matter is derived from the weathering of hard rock at the earth’s surface. An
“average” soil is made up of approximately 45 percent mineral content by volume, the
amount and size of mineral particles vary.
In an “average” soil, the amount of organic matter (living and dead organisms) will
range between 1 and 5 percent. Organic matter is mostly composed of dead plant and
animal remains. This decay in the upper layer of soil, or topsoil, is the major source of
plant nutrients and other organisms. Organic matter is what makes a soil fertile. Soils high
in organic matter do not compress as tightly allowing for more air spaces. Organic par-
ticles also hold the moisture by absorbing water. Water is held in the small air spaces

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11 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
between soil particles. Sand does not hold water because there is no organic matter to
hold water and because the spaces between particles is large.
Approximately 50 percent of the soil is made of pore space. In an “average” soil the
pore space is occupied by 25 percent air and 25 percent water. Of course when it rains or
during a drought these percentages change drastically. You can demonstrate this by using
the “Components of the Soil” transparency and yarn, as explained in the teacher prepara-
tion section. Show how weather patterns affect the air and water percentages. (The yarn,
representing the line between the two components is easily moved.) Water and air in the
soil is very important to the plants and animals that live in this ecosystem. Water carries the
nutrients to the plants. Both water and air are necessary for life and growth processes of
plants and animals. Plants and animals breathe. Plants consume carbon dioxide through
their roots and animals take in the oxygen.
Vocabulary
mineral matter: small pieces of weathered of rock (parent material), broken down over
thousands of years.
organic matter: products derived from living organisms, like plants and animals.

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13 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
What Makes Up Your Profile?
Soil Isn’t a Dirty Word
Objectives
Students will be able to
determine soil changes
in relationship to depth.
Students will explain
how soils are formed.
Materials
• overhead projector
• water
• clear plastic cup for
each student
• different types of
cereal
• 1/2 gallon of milk
• spoons
• sandstone or lime-
stone
• river rock (rounded)
• 1 quart glass jar
• vinegar
• metal tongs
• ice water
• hot plate
• Soil Profile transpar-
ency
• Factors That Build Our
Soil transparency
Time
Activity 1: 30 minutes
Activity 2: 30 minutes
Activity 3: 30 minutes
Getting Started
Gather materials, make necessary copies, and transparencies.
Ask your students to bring in a ziploc bag of cereal, or pur-
chase three to five different kinds of bagged bulk cereal. Other
food or nonfood items may be substituted for the cereals. For
Activity 3 you will need some sandstone. Sandstone is rela-
tively easy to find, especially in Southern Utah. However, if you
have difficulty finding sandstone, pieces of brick or concrete
can be substituted.
Procedures
Activity 1 - What’s Your Profile?
1. Draw a profile of one or of each student by asking them to
stand, perpendicular, in front of an overhead projector.
Trace their profile on the chalk board or on a piece of paper
which you have taped to the screen. Explain to students
that this is their profile. What do they think a “soil” profile
would look like?
2. Begin with some opening questions: When you dig into the
ground under the grass in your yard, you’ll find soil. But
what happens if you keep on digging? If you dug far
enough, would you run out of soil? How far would you have
to dig before you ran out? And what would you find there?
3. Using the soil profile transparency, and the background
information, explain the differences in each layer of the soil
profile. The video also shows many different soil profiles.
Discussion
1. Where do you think most soil life exists? Why?
2. Can a soil profile tell you how well plants might grow in that
soil?
Activity 2 - Soil Profiles
1. Place the cereals brought in (or that you have purchased)
on a table.
2. Students need to wash their hands. They will be eating
their creation. This is a good early morning activity.

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14Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
3. Ask students to construct a soil profile complete with parent material, subsoil, and
topsoil (based on what they have seen in the video and what you have explained from
the background information, topsoils are usually darker and finer, etc.).
4. Students may want to crush the cereal to create their topsoil. Simply place the cereal in
a bag or between two paper towels and they can crush it easily using their hands. Stu-
dents could also mix cereals to get their desired colors and textures.
5. Allow each student to share their “profile.” Then, milk acting as water, can be poured
onto the cereal and students can see how pore space is taken up by the milk and how
percolation occurs.
6. Pass out the spoons and bon apetit!
Discussion
1. Some layers in some soil profiles are difficult to see because the colors are very similar.
What other ways could you determine where one layer begins and another ends? (By
the amount of organic matter and rocks. (Chemical tests could also be used.)
Activity 3- Making Soil
1. Demonstrate how parent material can be broken into smaller pieces by rubbing two
pieces of sandstone together over a white piece of paper. Particles of sand will fall off. (If
you have enough sandstone for groups of students, they can conduct the activity on
their own, with a little guidance).
2. Explain to students that you are using sandstone because it is easier to experiment with,
other rocks need more force and time. Nature provides for these over time in the envi-
ronment, but your school day will end in a few hours, not a few centuries.
3. Place the sandstone into some water, rub the stone with your finger. Particles come off.
You could demonstrate how water running over the stone will also wash away mineral
particles, but using your finger conserves water. Water erosion on rocks takes gallons of
water and many years. Your school day will be over soon. Show a river rock, note the
smoothness.
4. Heat a small piece of sandstone or limestone on a hot plate. You may want some safety
glasses for this next part. Ask everyone else to stand back! Pick up the rock with
metal tongs and quickly drop it into ice water. The rock should break or crack as it
contracts after its expansion by heating. (To further demonstrate how rocks break down
you could fill a small glass jar with water, cap it tightly, and the place it in a freezer. Be
sure to put the jar in a bag so pieces of glass won’t be all over the freezer.)
5. Put some small pieces of limestone or sandstone in a little vinegar. Heat the vinegar on
a hot plate and notice how bubbles form on the pieces of stone. These bubbles are
carbon dioxide gas caused chemically by the acid in the vinegar. If you continued this
process for a long time the entire stone would gradually break down.

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15 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Discussion
1. How long does it take to make soil?
2. What factors help to make soil?
3. Is soil a renewable resource?
4. What kind of chemicals or acid might be in the soil to break down rocks?
Background
If you dug deep enough, you would hit solid rock. This is called bedrock. But before
you got there you would have to dig through three or four different layers of soil (the pro-
file). The layers are often referred to as horizons. The first horizon or layer is usually darker
in color and contains most of the organic matter. Organic matter is the layer formed by
plants and animals. In Utah, and the western U.S.A., in general, we have less organic
matter and in many rocky places it may be nonexistent. In an area where there is more
moisture and plant life you will find a deeper layers of organic matter. The first layer of soil
is called topsoil. The topsoil is where plants take root and grow. For good reason, this is
where plants can absorb water, nutrients (minerals), and air (carbon dioxide).
Minerals come from rocks. Minerals have several different ways of getting into the soil.
Sometimes they come from volcanic eruptions. Usually the minerals come from rocks that
have broken apart. Water from rain flows into the cracks of rocks. When the water freezes,
it expands and causes the cracks in the rocks to get bigger and little bits of the rock break
off. Sometimes the roots of plants will grow into “soft” rock and cause them to break.
Water and wind carry the tiny bits of rock along until they get trapped by the soil. You can
see how weather and climate (physical forces) can play a big role in the development of
soils. Chemistry also plays a role in developing soils. Many rocks are broken apart by
lichens–tiny “crusty, coral-like” plants (green, orange, gray, etc.) that live on rocks. Lichens
secrete an acid that dissolves some minerals. Also organic matter is acidic. When water
and organic matter mix, they form a slightly acidic solution that breaks down rocks in the
soil, like the vinegar in Activity 3. That is why soils in the eastern United States are more
acidic than soils in the west. They contain more organic matter. Eastern topsoil are also
generally deeper. Organic matter is good for plants, it keeps topsoil in its place, keeps soil
particles together, retains soil moisture, and speeds up soil formation. It takes between 100
and 500 years for just 1-inch of topsoil to form depending on the type of rocks and climate.
In Utah, our topsoil depths range from 1-12 inches. However, topsoils can be several
feet deep depending on their location. Because our topsoils are so shallow, farmers, ranch-
ers and others who are charged with caring for the land, must use practices that conserve
topsoils and hold them in their place. Soil is considered a nonrenewable resource because
it takes them so long to form. Topsoil is the thin line or layer that sustains life.
If enough of the topsoil blows or washes away we are left with subsoil. The subsoil is
the layer below the topsoil. It is usually lighter in color and less productive than topsoil.

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16Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Minerals here are not in a form that are easy for plants to use. The subsoil is mostly made
up of clay or sand and has very little organic material. Plants grow poorly in subsoil. That’s
why farmers must work hard to conserve their topsoil.
Between the subsoil and the bedrock is a layer of small rocks that have started to break
off the bedrock. This layer is called the parent material of the soil. That is because most
of what makes up the soil was once part of the rock.
Vocabulary
bedrock: a more or less solid rock, may be beneath the soil or at the surface (Zion National
Park)
nonrenewable resources: limited natural resources that cannot be replaced.
parent material: layer in the soil that contains broken up pieces of bedrock.
subsoil: the layer of horizon of earth below the topsoil.
topsoil: fertile upper layer of soil which is rich in organic matter.

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19 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Types by Texture
Soil Isn’t a Dirty Word
Objectives
Students will be able to
determine soil types by
texturing several soil
samples.
Materials
• Soil samples of sand,
silt, and clay loam
(included with video
package)
• Soil samples brought
in by students from
home, about 1 cup)
• 1 quart jar
• ruler
• alum (optional)
• small bowls
• spoons
• water
• bucket
• Particle Size and
Textural Triangle
transparencies
• newspaper
Time
Activity 1: 20 minutes,
with 3 short follow-ups
Activity 2: 45 minutes
Getting Started
Gather materials, make necessary copies and transparencies.
Soil samples of sand, silt, clay, and loam can be obtained from
Utah Agriculture in the Classroom. One of each sample is
included with this Educators Guide. Soil samples can be used
over and over if allowed to dry after each use. In each subse-
quent use the samples can be moistened to a paste and tex-
tured as explained. If you would like students to see what the
soils look like dry, expose the sample to air, dry thoroughly.
Then using a motar and pestle (a wooden dowel or carriage
bolt and plastic bowl will work) pulverize the sample to its
“original” dry, loose state.
Procedures
Activity 1 - Dirt Shake
1. Divide the students into groups of three or four.
2. Provide each group with a soil sample or instruct each
group to use one of the samples brought from home.
Caution! This activity will not work with most potting soil.
Potting soil is made up of mostly organic matter. This
activity is designed to determine soil texture. By evaluating
soil (mineral) particle size.
3. Place 1-inch of soil into a 1 quart jar. Add water until the jar
is 2/3 - 3/4 full. Add one teaspoon of alum (optional water
softener, found on the spice aisle of most grocery stores, it
does help the soil settle faster, but is not necessary) Be sure
the lid is tight. (You may use 3 or 4 inches of soil if you
would like to see “larger” layers. This may facilitate measur-
ing. Be sure to record the depth you start with so you can
accurately estimate percentages.)
4. Shake the jar vigorously until all the particles have been
sufficiently wet and separated by the water, about 2 minutes.
5. Set the jar down and allow the soil to settle. (See page 23)
6. After 1 minute measure the amount of soil on the bottom of
the jar. Record this information
7. Allow the sample to settle for 3 to 4 hours, then measure
again and record the level of the silt. This is your second
layer. This would be a good time to explain that soil pieces,

24.
20Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
which students saw in a previous activity, are comprised of different size particles. Use
the background information and Particle Size transparency.
8. The rest of the soil (or clay particles) may take the next couple of days to a week to settle
depending on the amount of clay in the sample. But because you know that each
sample started with 1 inch you can determine the amount of clay because you know the
amount of organic matter that is floating on top (this may be difficult to measure), sand,
and silt.
9. Convert the measurements into percentages. Students may need help with this. If you
used 1 inch of soil and the first layer measured 1/2 an inch, that would be equal to 50%
sand, a 1/4 inch measured in the second layer would be 25% silt, and the remainder
would be 25% clay, to make 100%. If the sample has 5% organic mater, you may only
have 20% clay. If you started with 4 inches of soil and 2 inches settled out as sand, 50%
of that sample would be sand, 1-inch of silt would be 25%, 1-inch of clay would be
evaluated as 25% clay.
10. Determine the soil type by using the Texture Triangle transparency.
Discussion
1. Why do the larger particles settle out first?
2. What is the stuff floating in the jar?
3. How does each persons sample compare?
Activity 2 - Soil Textures By Feel
Classroom management note for Activity 2: Divide the class into groups of four. Invite
each group, one at a time, back to the table where the soil samples are set up in the bowls
on newspaper. Cover the entire surface with newspaper. Place a bucket of water on the
table for rinsing hands between texturing samples. Have paper towels available for the final
rinse and dry. The bucket of water should be placed in the middle of the table so muddy
hands will not have a chance of being hung out over the floor. Before students rinse their
hands, as much of the sample as possible should be returned to the sample bowl. Hands
must be rinsed between samples so as not to confuse the sampler, and mix up the sample
for the following students. While each group is working at the texture sampling area,
provide the other students with some other type of “at your desk” activity. You may want to
have them work on a crossword or word search puzzle provided in the back of this guide.
The teacher should try to remain with the texturing group as much as possible to guide
them through the activity and clarify questions the students may have.
1. Place at least three different soil types into four bowls. (a sand, silt, and clay, loam).
2. Introduce the soil “Textural Triangle.” Show the students there are different names for
different types of soil. It will be the task of your students to determine the texture of the
supplied soil samples.

25.
21 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
3. Explain to the students that each sample is different and explain how the different par-
ticles feel by reading the background information. Ask them to determine the type of
soil in each sample.
4. Moisten soils to the consistency of “pasty” mud. Do not get them too wet and soupy.
5. Each student should place a teaspoon of the “mud” into the palm of his or her hand.
6. Instruct students to rub some of the soil between their index fingers and thumbs feeling
for the presence of sand, silt, and clay.
7. As they continue to feel the sample, ask them evaluate how much sand, silt, or clay is
present. Do they think it mostly sand or silt or clay? Is it half sand or silt or clay? Stu-
dents should feel a mixture and then try to determine the relative amounts of sand, silt
and clay. Students should record their analysis of the soil: sandy, silty, or clayey or an
evenly mixed type of loam.
8. After all students have sampled the soils discuss with them what their analysis should
have been. You may want to show them how to use the “Textural Triangle” and together
determine the soil types.
Discussion
1. What is the name of a soil that contains a mixture of sand, silt, and clay?
2. How does sand, silt, and clay, feel?
Background
Remember that soils are made of tiny pieces of rock or minerals. But not all of the
particles are the same size. Gravel particles are greater than 2.00 mm, sand is classified
between 2.00 and 0.05 mm, silt is a particle that is between 0.05 and 0.002 mm, and clay
is any mineral particle less than 0.002 mm. Students should have seen the different par-
ticle sizes in the “What’s in Soil” activity. To determine a type of soil, particles are analyzed.
Most soils are a mixture of sand, silt, and clay and are said to be loams. If the sample has
more sand it is a “sandy loam,” more silt a “silty loam,” more clay a “clay loam.” Depend-
ing on the amounts of sand, silt, and clay, the soil type may be further classified as a “sandy
clay loam,” “silty clay loam,” “silty clay,” etc.
Activity 1 is a “hydrology test” that, with the use of water, simply separates the soil par-
ticles. Sand is the largest particle in a soil sample (gravel is not small enough to be consid-
ered soil) and is a heavier, denser, particle and will settle out in the water within 1 minute.
Silt (the next largest particle) will settle out in 3 to 4 hours and clay will take a few days or as
long as a week to completely settle. Scientist will shake soil samples in water for 24 hours.
This is to ensure that “tightly” bound clay particles are thoroughly separated, but for the
classroom experiment the 2 minute shake will work. Organic matter will be the “debris”
floating on top of the water, if the sample was dry. This usually is a very small amount that
can’t be measured. Measuring the sand, silt, and then surmising what the clay will be will

26.
22Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
help to determine the type of soil in the jar. For example, if the sample measures 1/2 inch
after settling for 1 minute, the sample is 50 percent sand and is considered a sandy type
(probably sandy loam) soil.
Within 2 days the students should be able to see the different layers easily. The layers
may be easy to see or difficult depending on the color of the minerals in a given soil
sample. Soil color is determined by the minerals in the soil, not the texture. Red soil can
be sandy or made of clay.
When texturing soil samples by hand students should follow this criteria. Sand feels
gritty. Silt feels smooth, soft, somewhat slick, like the smooth silkiness of baby
powder. Clay feels sticky, and often stains the fingers. Soil samples containing a lot of
clay will also be able to be pressed together through the thumb and forefinger to create a
“ribbon” of soil. Clay soils stick together. Most of us have worked with potters clay. Potters
clay is not quite as sticky, but a truly clay soil will hold together is a similar fashion. You
cannot determine soil texture by color or where it is found in the soil profile. The touch
method and hydrology tests determine soil texture.
Vocabulary
sand: soil particle that is classified between 2.00 and 0.05 mm
silt: a soil particle that is between 0.05 and 0.002 mm
clay: any soil mineral particle less than 0.002 mm.
loam: a mixture of sand, silt, and clay. (See the Textural Triangle)

28.
24Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Soil Textural Triangle
To find the texture of your soil, read percentages of sand, silt, and
clay in the direction of the arrows at the sides. For example, a soil
with 20% clay and 40% each of sand and silt is a loam.

29.
25 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Dark Days
The Dust Bowl Is Not Played on New Years Day
Objectives
Students will be able to
interpret and explain the
modern and historical
importance of agricul-
ture and soil erosion in
a local site, Utah in
general, and the United
States.
Students will research
and report on soil
erosion at a local site.
Materials
• Make copies of Dark
Days story sheets.
Time
Activity 1: 60 minutes
Getting Started
Make the necessary copies. Gather books from the library on
the dust bowl. Out of the Dust, by Karen Heese, from Scholas-
tic Trade, is a series of poems, written by a 15 year-old, that
relates the hardships of living on her family’s wheat farm in
Oklahoma. Numerous other books are available. If possible
search the Internet for additional resources. Here are a few
places to begin: Voices from the Dust Bowl, http://
lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html, and The
American Experience: Surviving the Dust Bowl, http://
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/amex/dustbowl.
For Additivity 2, contact someone at your local Soil Conserva-
tion District (Zone) office or Utah State University Extension
Agricultural Educator (phone numbers are located on page
88). Ask them to visit your class or provide you with some
pictures of erosion that has occurred on a local site. It may be
erosion from construction, on a home site, agriculture, mining,
or nature (Bryce Canyon). Also ask them to discuss what has
or is being done to correct the erosion problem. You could
also go out with your camera and take some local erosion
pictures of your own. This activity may also be conducted as a
field trip.
Procedures
Activity 1 - Soil Stories
1. Share with students the background information. Use one
or more of the books, the “Dirt: Secrets in the Soil” video,
or web sites mentioned above to show students dust bowl
scenes and illustrations of soil erosion.
2. Divide the class into five groups (or this activity may be
conducted on an individual basis).
3. Provide each group with a photocopy of one of the photo-
graphs. Instruct groups to study and discuss the photo-
graphs. Explain that they are going to use the pictures to
create a story. (pg. 30 is Black Sunday, pg. 31 is a farm in
Oklahoma, pg. 32 is before and after scenes in Grantsville,
Utah, pg. 33 is a “dust fence” in Grantsville, and pg. 34 is a
Adapted from materials
provided by Oklahoma
Agriculture in the Classroom.

30.
26Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
haystack full of dust in Grantsville.
4. Give each group 5 minutes to develop a partial storyline about the photograph. One
group member should record the group’s thoughts and the group should condense
those thoughts into one sentence. Encourage each group to write clear sentences that
others will be able to understand.
5. After 5 minutes, each group should pass its final sentence, along with the photograph,
to another group. A member of the next group should read the unfinished storyline to
the group. The new group should then pick up the storyline and develop it one step
further. A new recorder should condense the second plot development into another
sentence. Instruct groups to choose a new recorder each time so everyone has the
opportunity to assist in the writing process.
6. When each photograph and storyline has been to all but one group, instruct groups to
bring the stories to some type of closure.
7. Have one person in each group stand up and read one of the final stories out loud.
8. Discuss the pictures and the impact they had on the tone of the stories.
Activity 2 - What’s Your Soil Story?
1. Ask a local Soil Conservation District member or Utah State University Extension Agri-
cultural Educator to visit your classroom, or provide your students with photographs of
local erosion (discussed in the Getting Started section). If a field trip to the site is
possible, the questions could be discussed on site.
2. Divide the class into groups or use the same groups that were made in Activity 1, ask
the students to try and determine:
1) How the soil erosion might have occurred?
2) What the soil texture might have been (if possible bring in a sample from the
area)?
3) How the erosion could have been prevented?
4) What if anything is being done to stop the erosion on the site?
3. One person in each group should record the groups response for each question. This
will be their report.
4. Ask a spokesman from each group to share the group’s report on the site. Compare
reports from the groups by constructing a “Factors Possibilities chart.” The four ques-
tions are the factors, and the possibilities are the groups answers or responses. For
example your chart may look like the example chart on page 29.
5. When all the possibilities are listed, ask the students to vote as an individual, which
possibility they think is most likely for each factor or question. They can choose any
possibility not just their groups possibility.

31.
27 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
6. Once the votes are tallied, ask a local expert to elaborate on their “votes” or explain to
your students what an expert told you about the given erosion site. Were the classes
conclusions correct?
Discussion
1. Ask students to discuss the way the stories were completed. Were students happy with
the different twists the stories took as they passed from group to group?
2. Is another “Dust Bowl Possible?”
Background
The “Dust Bowl” is a term sometimes used to describe both a time and a place. The
dust bowl region of the United States is the southern portion of the Great Plains, including
parts of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas. But Dust Bowl—with a
capital D and B—refers to the time during the 1930’s when drought, prairie winds, and
poor land use practices combined to make life in this region miserable and farming nearly
impossible.
On Sunday afternoon, April 14, 1935, clouds of dust moved through the dust bowl area
and turned the sky black. People had to cover their noses and mouths so they could
breathe. The day was to go down in history as Black Sunday. Robert E. Geiger was a
writer for the Associated Press who visited the area during that time. In a series of firsthand
articles for the Washington Evening Star, Geiger described “pelting winds full of topsoil”
and was the first to call the area “The Dust Bowl.”
Dust storms were common on the Great Plains, but the west has had its own areas of
dust storms and soil erosion. In Grantsville, Utah, (in the heart of the Tooele Valley) also
during the 1930’s, dust storms occurred that caused the same economic and ecological
problems as the ones occurring in the Great Plains. The Grantsville dust bowl was caused
from over grazing and drought. The Great Plains dust bowl was caused by similar condi-
tions; however, farmers in the region had also been using a newly invented steel plow that
dug up acres of prairie grasses. During the early 1900’s gas-powered tractors and com-
bines enabled farmers to cultivate million of acres and to enjoy bountiful harvests. But few
farmers knew what they were doing exposed soil to wind and rain, setting the stage for
mass erosion.
In Grantsville most residents recall the mid 1930’s as dark and dirty. The Tooele Valley
was first settled about 1847. Grass covered the valley floor. The grass was abundant. The
Tooele Valley became one of the most popular winter grazing areas in the west. More and
more livestock were allowed to graze in this grassy valley. Large outside trail herds making
their way to Idaho and Nevada traveled across the valley lingering as long as possible to
pick up any available feed. Slowly the grass disappeared and sage took its place. Over-
grazing stunted and scattered the sage until what was once a range of plenty became
almost barren.

32.
28Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
From time to time, hot destructive brush fires swept through the valley, destroying what
little perennial vegetation was left. Residents of the valley needed to increase their in-
come. They plowed up many acres, that without irrigation couldn’t yield crops on the
yearly rainfall of 12 inches or less. The wind whipped up small dust clouds sending them
into the city. Then, there came a drought. This was a recipe for an ecological disaster.
Suffering from the catastrophe was not confined to the 1,200 citizens of Grantsville. The
other 6,000 residents of the valley also breathed the dust. Soil from the Tooele Valley
settled as far away as Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Logan. Idaho even got some of Utah’s
dust.
In the case of both dust bowls the situation was reversed largely due to government
actions. And by the time rains returned, the situation had already improved dramatically.
A special branch of the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Soil Conserva-
tion Service (SCS) was created and went to work. The SCS used carefully-planned conser-
vation methods and wiser farming techniques to restore grasses. With the help of state
Cooperative Extension Services, SCS taught farmers how to conserve topsoils. Local Soil
Conservation Districts were established and still, today help and promote conservation on
public and private lands. Today the SCS is called the Natural Resource Conservation
Service (NRCS).
Once the land was restored with vegetation farmers and ranchers moved back onto the
land. Using improved farming and grazing management practices agriculture has returned
to the Tooele Valley and the Great Plains.
Even today, the Dust Bowl is remembered as one of the most severe tragedies to affect
both nature and people in this country’s history. In the mid 1990’s parts of Texas experi-
enced a few years of drought. Farmers, ranchers and conservationists moved quickly to
remove livestock to keep as many plants as possible on the range. Livestock can graze on
rangelands if they are managed properly. Ranchers and public land managers must be
able to move livestock when weather and range conditions will not allow the germination
of new plants. We can learn from our mistakes!
Vocabulary
drought: a rain-less period of time.
grazing: livestock eating plants growing on open land.

33.
29 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Factors
Possibilities
Question 1
votes
Question 2
votes
Question 3
votes
Question 4
votes
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5
someone left a
hose running
it rained very hard
before grass was
planted.
the land should
have been
leveled.
same as group 1 same as group 2
13 9 5
sandy loam silt loam same as group 1 same as group 1 loam
22 0 5
Etc.
Example of Factors Possibilities Chart

36.
32Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Dark Days
Write a story about these
two the photographs of
the same land.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Grantsville, Utah, 1935
Courtesy of Granstville Soil
Conservation District
Grantsville Utah, 1937
Courtesy of Grantsville Soil
Conservation District

37.
33 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Dark Days
Write a story about the photograph.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Courtesy of Grantsville, Utah, Soil Conservation District

38.
34Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Dark DaysWrite a story about the photograph.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Courtesy of Grantsville, Utah, Soil Conservation District

39.
35 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Caring for the Land
The Dust Bowl Is Not Played on New Years Day
Objectives
Students will be able to
explain how people can
have different opinions
on soil management.
Students will identify
cause and effect rela-
tionships in issues
relating to agriculture
and the environment.
Materials
• Worksheet copies
Time
Activity 1: 60 minutes
Getting Started
Make the necessary copies.
Procedures
Activity 1 - Soil Stories
1. Begin the lesson by asking students to describe and define
in their own terms; “farmer,” “environmentalist,” and “envi-
ronmental activist.”
2. Ask students if they have heard any news reports about
conflicts between farmers and environmental activists
(endangered species, grazing on public lands, wetlands,
etc.).
3. Draw Venn diagram on the chalkboard (see the example
below), and ask students to list things on which farmers and
environmental activists disagree and things they have in
common. (Both care about the land, both need food to eat.
You may have to make very large circles.)
4. Share the background material and discuss problem/solu-
tion and cause/effect relationships.
5. Divide your class into three groups, and hand out copies of
one of the worksheets to each group.
6. Students should read the situations on the student
worksheet and identify the cause and effect and the prob-
lem and solution in each one. Students should also identify
the alternatives and their effects.
Farmers Environmentalist
common interests
Adapted from materials
provided by Oklahoma
Agriculture in the Classroom.

40.
36Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Discussion
1. Why do we need farmers? (food, clothes, shelter, for other manufacturing goods)
2. Who should decide how to use the land?
3. How should we decide how to use the land?
Background
The land is the livelihood of farmers. Most people, farmers included, try to avoid prac-
tices which might harm or destroy their way of life. Despite this fact, agriculture is blamed
for many environmental problems.
People began polluting long before they knew that was what they were doing. Early
settlers in this country dumped their trash into rivers and streams without considering the
harm it might do. Before gasoline-powered tractors began releasing exhaust fumes into
the rural countryside, work horses were creating pollution problems of their own. The
average farm horse produced 35 pounds of manure or solid waste and 2 gallons of liquid
waste each day. Although horse manure can be an excellent fertilizer when spread across a
field, large amounts in small areas can create high concentrations of nitrogen and bacteria
which may filter through the soil into the underground water supply.
Thousands of years ago people began to farm because they found they could produce
more food that way than they could by hunting and gathering. Over the years people
discovered that some farming practices hurt the land. Cutting down trees, clearing away
vegetation and letting animals overgraze left topsoil unprotected so winds and water could
erode it away. Planting the same crop on the same field year after year used up all the soil’s
nutrients. As a result, the fields lost their ability to produce good crops.
Early farmers learned from their mistakes and developed better farming methods. They
learned to farm on the contour and build terraces—ridges of soil built across the slope to
slow the runoff of water. They learned to rotate their crops—move them from one field to
another to let the land rest. They learned how to spread animal manure on their fields to
restore organic matter and nutrients.
When European settlers came to the New World, they were dazzled by what seemed like
endless resources —acres and acres of rich soil which had never been used for farming.
Many farmers abandoned the methods their ancestors had learned for protecting the land.
When one field began to produce poor crops, the farmer would simply abandon it and
move farther into the wilderness.
As more people moved in, they began farming sloping lands that could easily wash away
and soils that could easily blow away. In the early 20th Century, farmers began plowing up
the native grasses of the Southern Plains to plant wheat. Since that land had never been
farmed before, farmers had no way of knowing that their hard work would be the first step
toward creating what came to be known as the Dust Bowl. A severe drought dried up the
exposed soil. With no grass roots to hold the sandy soil in place, it simply blew away with
the strong summer winds.

41.
37 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Recognizing a problem is the first step toward solving it. Farmers didn’t know plowing up
the Plains would cause the soil to blow away. Once they saw what had happened, they did
what farmers have been doing for thousands of years. They began thinking of different
farming methods they could use that would protect the soil.
One method involved using chemicals on weeds instead of turning the soil with a plow.
For many years, this method seemed like an excellent way to keep the soil in place while
producing the food people needed. Then scientists discovered the chemicals were getting
into the water supply and making birds, fish, animals and people sick. Today farmers and
agricultural researchers are working on ways to solve that problem and many more.
Vocabulary
chemical (inorganic) fertilizers: synthetic materials, including nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium compounds, spread on or worked into soil to increase its fertility.
contaminate: to make impure by contact or mixture with harmful bacteria, fungi, or dan-
gerous chemicals.
farmer: an individual who works with the land, plants and animals to produce raw materials
for food, clothing, shelter, and other products that are used in industry and manufacturing.
decompose: to decay or break down into small pieces.
environmental activist: a person who cares about the environment, involved in shaping
public perceptions and making policy. May or may not have educational training in environ-
mental science.
environmentalist: a person who cares about the environment and the relationships in the
environment. Usually has studied environmental science.
legume: a family of plants which, with the aid of symbiotic bacteria, convert nitrogen from
the air to build up nitrogen in the soil. Legumes include many valuable food and forage
species, including peas, beans, peanuts, clover, and alfalfa.
organisms: any living individual, plant or animal.
pesticides: word used to describe a variety of substances used to control insects (insecti-
cide), plants (herbicide), or animals (rodenicide for mice, etc.).
rotating crops: to plant or grow crops in a fixed order of succession.

42.
38Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Answers to cause and effect relationship worksheets.
Soil Erosion
Problem: soil erosion
Cause: overgrazing, clearing vegetation from soil
Solution: rotational grazing, no-till farming
Effect(s): soil washes or blows away
New Problem: use of the wrong amount of pesticides and fertilizers may cause water
pollution.
Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides
Problem: overuse of chemicals
Cause: using chemical fertilizers and pesticides
Solution: Integrated Pest Management
Effect(s): increase production, pollutes water
New Problem: none identified in text
Wetlands
Problem: loss of wetlands
Cause: draining or filling in wetlands
Solution: passing laws to protect wetlands
Cause: draining or filling in wetlands
Effect(s): flooding, loss of habitat for wildlife, loss of natural water purification
New Problem: people are unable to use their property as they wish

43.
39 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Caring for the Land
Identify the problem and the solution and the main cause and effect relationship in the information below.
Soil Erosion
Soil erosion is what happens when soil is washed or blown away. In most places, trees, grass
and other plants hold soil in place. In Utah annual rainfall is low, the state average is 14 inches a
year. Erosion in our state is primarily caused by wind. During the 1930’s livestock in Tooele
County were allowed to overgraze the range and farmers plowed up some of the remaining land
and planted grains (wheat, barley, etc.). Between 1933 and 1935, the area had even less rainfall
than usual. With large areas of land having no grass root system to anchor it, much of the soil
blew away. The dust storms and sand storms buried roads and houses. During this same period
of time the Great Plains were also experiencing a dust bowl. Clouds of dust from this area
reached as far east as Washington, D.C.
In response to the disaster, the federal government created the Soil Erosion Service and the
Civilian Conservation Corps to find ways to recover the land. Workers replanted grass, planted
trees and showed farmers better agricultural methods to help them protect the soil. As time has
progressed, the Soil Erosion Service became the Soil Conservation Service, and in 1996 changed
its name to the Natural Resource Conservation Service. Citizens of a local area, in each state, that
concern themselves with the conservation of soils belong to a governing board called the Soil
Conservation District. Today in Utah, with the help of Conservation Districts and Utah State
University Extension, farmers and ranchers learn how to better manage the land.
One method of grazing livestock is to place large numbers of animals out to graze on one piece
of land for a short period of time and then move them to a new pasture. This allows the animals
to get the nutrition they needed while cutting down on overgrazing and erosion. This practice is
known as rotation grazing. Another method being used by farmers is no-till farming. A farmer
using this method plants seeds directly into a field that still has last years plant stems, stalks and
leaves on or in the ground. For this method to work, the farmer must use herbicides to kill un-
wanted grass and weeds. This method helps stop soil erosion, but some people worry that the
herbicides used might pollute the underground water supply.
Problem
Cause
Solution
Effect(s)
Does the solution create another problem? If so, what is it?

44.
40Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Caring for the Land
Identify the problem and the solution and the main cause and effect relationship in the information below.
Chemical Pesticides and Fertilizers
In the natural plant cycle, plants take nutrients from the soil and return them when leaves and
other plant parts die and decompose. When people take plant matter (grains and hay) from the
soil, they are also removing nutrients. Over time, if the nutrients aren’t replaced, the soil can no
longer provide enough nutrients for plants to grow. In early years, farmers replaced these nutrients
by adding animal manure, growing a legume crop, resting fields or rotating crops from year to
year so fields could restore some of their nutrients through natural processes.
In the 1920s, farmers began using tractors instead of horses and mules. They began using
inorganic nitrogen fertilizers to replace the organic nitrogen the fields had been getting from
animal manure. Nitrogen is one of the major nutrients plants need to grow. In the 1940s, farmers
learned to use chemicals to kill insects and weeds. These chemicals now help one American
farmer provide food and fabric for 130 non-farmers.
Chemicals have caused some problems, too. Chemical pesticides can kill other organisms
besides the ones for which they are intended. Some of the organisms they kill are useful ones that
help crops grow. Chemical fertilizers also cause reactions in the soil that, over time, can make the
soil less desirable for plant growth. Chemicals used in agriculture can also contaminate the water
we drink. Sometimes they move through the soil and enter the underground water supply, and
sometimes they are carried by rainwater into lakes, rivers and streams. Farmers are concerned
about these problems. They are trying new methods that will help them grow enough food for all
the people to eat without damaging their land and water supplies. These methods help farmers
use fewer chemicals on their fields. One method is Integrated Pest Management. Under this
method, farmers first find out how many and what kinds of pests they have. They don’t use
chemical pesticides unless there are enough pests to cause economic crop damage. They often
choose environmentally-friendly pesticides or beneficial insects to control the pests.
Another method makes use of a computer installed in the farmer’s tractor. The farmer takes soil
samples from his or her fields and has them chemically tested at a laboratory. The computer
receives mapping information from a satellite in space and then uses the results of the soil tests to
tell the fertilizer spreader where to place the fertilizer and how much to use. This is called “preci-
sion farming.”
Problem
Cause
Solution
Effect(s)
Does the solution create another problem? If so, what is it?

45.
41 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Identify the problem and the solution and the main cause and effect relationship in the information below.
Wetlands
Wetlands are low areas that are saturated with water. Marshes and swamps are wetlands. Wet-
lands cover only a small part of Utah but provide critical aquatic habitat in an arid environment as
well as economic and other benefits. Utah wetlands include the shallows of small lakes, reservoirs,
ponds, and streams; riparian wetlands; marshes and wet meadows; mud and salt flats; and playas.
The largest wetlands in the State surround Great Salt Lake. Because of the importance of Great
Salt Lake and its associated wetlands to migratory waterfowl and shorebirds, in 1991 the lake was
designated a Hemispheric Reserve in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.
Wetlands are an important part of the earth’s ecosystem. They act like sponges to store water
during the wet times of the year and release it into the aquifers and underground streams where
we get most of our drinking water. When there are no wetlands to soak up the water, rains are
more likely to turn into floods which destroy homes, businesses and farms. Plants that grow in
wetlands hold the soil and help keep it from being washed away.
Wetlands also help purify water. They filter out harmful chemicals and wastes. Dirty water gets a
good cleaning when it flows through a wetlands
Wetlands provide homes for many birds and animals that need wet places to grow and repro-
duce. They are important rest and food stops for many migrating birds. Many endangered plants
and over l/3 of our endangered animals live in or use wetlands.
At the time of European settlement, there were about 215 million acres of wetlands in the lower
48 states. In the last 200 years over 54 percent of these wetlands have been lost. Most were
converted to agricultural uses. For many years people thought of wetlands as obstacles to farming
and breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The government even encouraged landowners to turn
wetlands into dry lands.
Now we know more about wetlands. We realize how much they help the environment, wildlife
and humans. Federal laws have been passed to protect and preserve them. Some people don’t
like the wetland laws. People who have wetlands on their property think they should be able to use
their property to earn money to support their families.
Caring for the Land
Problem
Cause
Solution
Effect(s)
Does the solution create another problem? If so, what is it?

46.
42Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Perkin’ Through the Pores
SlipSlidin’Away
Objectives
Students will be able to
determine the water
holding and draining
capacities of different
soils.
Students will investigate
how organic matter
increases the amount of
water soil will hold.
Materials
• Comparison Graph
sheet
• 4 cups of four or five
different dry soil
samples (make sure
one is quite sandy and
another quite clayey)
• 5 cups of potting soil
• funnel (2 liter bottles
cut in half)
• coffee filters (cupcake
shape)
• water
• measuring cups
• stopwatches or a clock
with a second hand.
Time
Activity 1: 40 minutes
Activity 2: 30 minutes
Activity 3: 30 minutes
Getting Started
Gather materials, make necessary copies, and the Comparison
Chart transparency. Prepare the 2-liter funnels as shown in the
picture below. Place the bottle on a table and measuring up
from the table surface, place a mark at 5-1/2 inches. This is
where you should cut the bottle in half. If you need help ob-
taining different soil samples, contact a local resource person
or contact the Agriculture in the Classroom Coordinator, num-
bers are noted on page 88.
Procedures
Activity 1 - Mark, Get Set, Go
1. Divide the class into four or five groups, depending on how
many soil samples you have.
2. Provide each group with a funnel and bottom (made from a
2 liter bottle), two coffee filters, 1 cup of one of the soil
samples, a measuring cup and water.
3. Place one coffee filter into the funnel and then to measure
and add 1 cup of soil into the filter. Cover the sample with
another filter. This will ensure even coverage and avoid
splashing.
4. One person in each group needs to be designated as the
time keeper, another as the water pourer.
5. When the time keeper says go, the water pourer should
pour 2 cups of water into the funnel.
coffee filter
containing soil
note: you will need this filter
set up for a future activity

47.
43 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
6. Time should be kept until most of the water has gone through the soil sample. Some
will go through quite quickly while other could take 30 minutes or more. So proceed
with Activity 3 keeping an eye on the samples.
7. Compare the time it took for water to percolate through each sample. Add the data to
the Comparison Graph.
8. Pour out and measure the water that percolated through the sample. Record this on the
graph.
Activity 2 - Adding Organic Matter
1. Duplicate steps 1 through 4 in Activity 1.
2. Add one cup of potting soil (high in organic matter) to each filter. One student should
mix in the organic matter with his or her finger being careful not to puncture the filters.
3. Duplicate steps 5 through 8 in Activity 1. Be sure to record the data on the Comparison
Graph.
4. Discuss the background material and ask students to identify which sample had the
most sand and which had the most clay. Add this evaluation to the Comparison Graph.
Activity 3 - Pick a Path
1. Remind students about what they learned about particle sizes (Types by Texture lesson).
2. Divide the class into four groups. Assign each group one of the following titles: water,
sand, silt, and clay.
3. Soil particles should position their arms like the examples in the drawing below.
4. Group the sand particles together so that each particle is touching another (finger tip to
finger tip). Now tell students in the water group to try and run through the sand group
(under their arms). They should be able to run through will little difficulty.
5. Repeat the above step for silt and clay. Silt particles should be touching elbows, and
clay particles should be touching shoulders. Discuss the results.
6. Mix up the sand, silt and clay particles (students) to make a loam. Ask the water group
to run through. Discuss the results.
Discussion
1. In the “Pick a Path” game which group did the water have a more difficulty running
through?
2. Which types of soils hold more moisture?
Sand Silt Clay

48.
44Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
3. Does the amount of organic matter effect the water holding capacity of soil?
4. Looking at the Comparison Chart which soil had the most sand? Which had the most
clay?
5. Can you figure out the water holding capacity of the soil?
6. Who needs to know about how water percolated through the soil? Why?
Background
Sand, silt and clay are inorganic materials. Sand is made up of larger particles which can
be seen with the naked eye. It has a coarse feel and allows water to move through very
quickly. Silt particles are too small to see with the naked eye. Silt is often found in places that
have flooded and dried out again. Clay is made up of very tiny particles. The particles fit
together so closely that it is difficult for water to flow through.
The best kind of soil for plants allows water to move through slowly enough so that some of
it stays in the soil for the plants to use. Water moves too quickly through sand. It moves very
slowly through clay, but clay holds the water so tightly that plants can’t get to it. Soil that is
good for plants has a mixture (a loam) of sand, silt, clay and organic material, or humus.
Humus acts like a sponge to help the soil capture water. Humus is formed when plants and
animals die.
When organic matter is used up, soil packs together in clods. A cloddy soil has fewer air
spaces. A soil with more organic matter will be crumbly. Not only does a crumbly soil take in
water faster than a cloddy one, it holds more. The thoroughly decomposed organic matter
(humus) in a crumbly soil can absorb lots of water. On a dry weight basis, this humus has a
water-holding capacity of several hundred percent and acts like a sponge. In addition to the
water held by the organic matter, water held in the pores between the soil particles and be-
tween the soil granules is greater. Hundreds of very fine soil particles are glued together by
the organic matter into soil granules.
This increased water-holding capacity of soils high in organic matter makes a big difference
in the intake of water. These well-managed soils can absorb most of the rain and snowmelt (if
the soil is not frozen). This means there will be less erosion. Streams will run clear. Of
course, when the soil is saturated by a long period of rainfall, any additional water then runs
off. But until the soil is saturated it will store up water and let it go gradually.
Crops use lots of water. Vegetables use an average of 2 acre-feet, or 650,000 gallons an
acre. Cotton takes 800,000 gallons an acre. An acre of alfalfa needs over a million gallons.
To produce one ear of corn takes over a barrel of water. Organic matter helps soil store more
water and helps prevent erosion and produces better crops.
Vocabulary
humus: thoroughly decomposed organic matter
organic matter: products derived from living organisms, like plants and animals.

49.
45 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Perkin’ Through The Pores
Comparison Graph
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
Samples
Time(minutes)
30
25
20
15
10
5
What was the amount of water collected
after percolation in each sample?
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5
1. Which sample do you think had the most sand? __________________
2. Which sample had the most clay? ______________
3. Which sample had the most organic matter? _______________ (hint: compare the
amount of water collected and the speed of percolation and the visual evidence)

50.
46Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Keeping Soil in Its Place
SlipSlidinAway
Objectives
Students will be able to
demonstrate rain drop
splash or splash ero-
sion, and determine its
impact on bare soil.
Students will be able to
visually identify types of
erosion.
Materials
• Splash Zone Target
(these could be made
on a transparency, this
way they could be
washed and used year
after year)
• Graph handout
• Soils on the Move
handout
• 5 teaspoon of dry soil
• eyedroppers
• water
• rulers
• Erosion Control Prac-
tices transparency
• Soil on the Move
transparency
Time
Activity 1: 40 minutes
Activity 2: 20 minutes
Activity 3: 20 minutes
Getting Started
Gather materials, and make the necessary copies.
Procedures
Activity 1 - Splash Zone
1. Divide the class into five groups.
2. Give each group a Splash Zone Target, eyedropper, and a
small container of water.
3. Instruct student to put enough soil (about a teaspoon of dry
soil) in the center of their target to just cover the center
circle.
4. Fill the eyedropper with water
5. Hold the eyedropper about 12 inches (30 cm) above the
soil sample.
6. Drop 5 drops of water directly onto the soil sample. If a
drop misses the soil, continue until 5 drops hit the soil.
7. Record the number of water “splashes” drops containing
soil in each zone.
8. Complete the graph to show your results.
9. Discuss questions in Discussion section before moving on
to Activity 2.
* You may want to repeat this activity with drops from 1 meter
high. Also try the activity with wet soil.
Activity 2 - Soils on the Move
1. Introduce students to the types of erosion using the erosion
section in the “Dirt: Secrets in the Soil” video and the
background information.
2. Provide each student with a copy of the “Soils on the Move”
handout or make a transparency.
3. Label the handout or transparency. Discuss how each type
of erosion differs.
Activity 3 - Methods for Controlling Soil Erosion
1. Introduce students to the methods for controlling erosion
using the erosion section in the “Dirt: Secrets in the Soil”
video and the background information. You could also
duplicate the demonstration using the erosion trays “turkey
pans” in the video.

51.
47 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
2. Student should complete the Erosion Control Practices activity sheet, or use it as a
transparency for discussion.
3. Discuss the various methods and why they are used.
4. Answers: 1) streambank erosion, 2) gully erosion, 3) wind erosion, 4) rill erosion, 5)
sheet erosion.
Discussion
1. What did you observe? How did the soil particles move from the center of the target?
(they were picked up and moved with the water)
2. Which zone contained the most number of water drops with soil particles? Why?
3. Which zone contained the least number? Why?
4. What would happen if the drops were larger? (splashes would travel further)
5. How might you prevent splash erosion? (plant vegetation, cover the soil with mulch)
6. How do farmers decide which erosion control methods to use? (it depends on the
slope, soil types, and what he or she wants to plant)
Background
Erosion is a naturally occurring process. Erosion has given us some of our most beauti-
ful landscapes. There are beautiful erosion formations such as the Grand Canyon, Kolob
Canyon (Zion National Park) the San Rafael Swell (Emery County) or Bryce Canyon, to
name a few. Erosion is the loosening, transportation and relocation of soil particles from
one place to another. Erosion occurs primarily due to the action of wind and water. The
rate and extent of erosion are determined by soil type and condition, slope of the land,
plant cover, land use and climate.
Erosion does not occur only on wilderness landscapes, and the effects are not always
positive, especially when you are talking about productive topsoil. Landslides, can bury
towns and claim thousands of lives. Streams or rivers loaded with eroded soil can turn
sources of clean drinking water into major health hazards.
Water erosion includes raindrop splash, sheet erosion, rill erosion, gully erosion, and
slumping or mass erosion. Raindrop splash is the most obvious on bare ground during a
torrential rainstorm. The raindrops strike the ground and upon impact break soil particles
apart, splashing these particles into the air. The impact of raindrops can be lessened by
plant cover. Plants break the fall of the raindrops and allow for water infiltration or percola-
tion.
Sheet erosion is the washing away of a thin surface layer of soil over a large area of land.
Because sheet erosion occurs evenly, it is generally not obvious until most of the topsoil is
removed.
Rill erosion may be noticeable on sloping bare ground after a rainstorm. Water forms
small, well defined channels that carry soil away from the sides and bottom of these chan-
nels. The rills of channels erode more soil as they move downslope and increase in size.

52.
48Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
When rills become large, the process is called gully erosion. This severe form of soil ero-
sion removes tones of soil from the sidewalls and bottom of the gully.
Streambank (and coastal erosion) erosion is the cutting away of the banks by water. It is
generally a slow process which represents the normal situation occurring along most
streams. It is most active during floods when the amount and velocity of water are the
greatest and when the bank soils are submerged under water and saturated.
To control erosion plant cover is usually the best solution. But to grow our food farmers
make furrows in the land for row crops. A farmer can use a variety of methods to “keep
soil in its place.” A farmer may plant his of her crops around the curve of a hill rather than
up and down the hill, this is call contour planting. Plowing will also be done on the con-
tour. Farmers may also build terraces. Terraces are wide ridges that go around a hill to
prevent water from rushing down the hill too fast. On steep hillsides, rather than clear the
area for cropland, farmers will maintain the area in forest and grass. Water always runs
down hill, farmers do not plow in these low areas where water collects, instead they main-
tain these low ditch areas as grassed waterways.
Soils susceptible to wind erosion should be kept covered with some kind of vegetation. If
this cannot be done year-round, a windbreak of trees and shrubs may be planted. Wind-
breaks are rows of trees planted to slow down the wind and prevent soils from blowing in
the wind.
Vocabulary
mulch: a covering placed on bare soil to keep it from eroding, loose leaves, straw, bark
chips etc.
furrows: small ditches (2-6 inches deep) between the rows of plants used to convey water.
row crops: plants planted in a row to facilitate harvesting and watering.
Row 1 Row 2 Row 3 Row 4 Row 5
Dense shrubs Medium Medium deciduous Tall deciduous Flowering shrubs
evergreen or tall evergreen
Windbreak
Prevailing wind

56.
52Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Erosion Control Practices
Farmers use several methods to conserve soil. Match the number of
practices below in the correct box in the picture.
1. Contour Planting: plant crops around the curve of a hill rather than up
and down the hill.
2. Terraces: wide ridges that go around a hill to prevent water from rushing
down the hill too fast.
3. Forest and Grass Areas: keep steep hillsides in trees or grass rather than
clear for cropland.
4. Grassed Waterways: plant grass and don’t plow low areas in a field where
water usually runs.
5. Windbreak: rows of trees planted to slow down the wind and prevent
soils from blowing.

57.
53 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
How Much Is Dirt Worth?
Hitting Pay Dirt
Objective
Students will appreciate
topsoil and be able to
communicate soils
economic value.
Materials
• large apple
• knife
• cutting board
• Earth’s Soil Resource
pie chart activity sheet
Time
Activity 1: 15 minutes
Activity 2: 20 minutes
Teacher Preparation
Gather materials, and make the necessary copies.
Procedures
Activity 1 - Slicing-up Earth’s land resources.
1. Demonstrate the following: Imagine that the apple is planet
earth.
2. Students should fill in their pie chart as you begin to tell
them what each slice means.
3. Cut the apple in quarters. Oceans occupy 3/4 of our earth.
One quarter of our earth is our land area. Take this quarter
and cut it in half, now you have two 1/8th sections of land.
One-eighth of our land is not suitable for producing food,
this is the deserts, swamps, mountains and the Arctic and
Antarctic regions. The other eighth represents land where
people can live. Slice this 1/8th section lengthwise into
four equal parts. Now you have four 1/32nd of an apple.
The first section represents the areas of the world which
have rocky soil that is too poor for any type of food produc-
tion. The next two sections represents land that is too wet
or too hot for food produc-
tion. The fourth
section repre-
sents the area of
the world devel-
oped by man.
Carefully peal
the last 1/32nd
section. This
small bit of
peeling repre-
sents all the soil
of our earth
which humans
depend upon for
food production.
Adapted from materials
provided by Oklahoma
Agriculture in the Classroom.

58.
54Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Activity 2 - Cost versus Value
1. After reading the background material. Demonstrate the following problem and scenario
on the board:
Let’s say you have 1 acre of land and 7 inches of topsoil. If every inch is worth
$10.00 (working with round numbers make the math a bit easier) your topsoil would
be worth $70.00.
2. Because of erosion you lose 1/2 an inch of topsoil each year. How much in dollars would
you be losing each year? ($5.00 of topsoil from an acre).
3. What is your topsoil now worth? ($65.00)
4. Discuss what other losses would occur. (Because of lost topsoil, crops will not be as
productive and your income would go down. You’ve lost topsoil and money!)
5. At your current rate of topsoil loss, how many years will go by before all 7 inches of
topsoil are gone? (14 years)
Discussion
1. Since soils provide our food, how is it we can place a value on them?
2 What is an acre of pristine farmland worth?
3. How do we decide what to pay for an acre of land?
4. What can you do to minimize the loss of topsoil?
Background
Agriculture is the nations largest employer. Roughly 20 out of 100 people rely on farms
and farming for their livelihood. The United States exports more farm products than any
other country in the world. It costs the farmer more to produce good crops on poor soil and
this cost is passed on to the consumer “you” in higher prices at the grocery store.
Look at the economics or the money earned by our productive soils. Soils produce our
food, keeping us alive. How do we place a value on human life? Food production or agri-
culture employs 20 out of every 100 people in the United States. Agricultural exports are
translated into billions of dollars for United States trade. The soils on this planet are essential
to our survival! Good soils are a limited resource and because it takes an average of 100 to
500 years to make 1 inch of topsoil, soil is considered a nonrenewable resource. It is difficult
to place a value on our soils. The best thing to do is conserve what we have. Soil loss or
erosion effects our country’s economics and our lives.
Famine and economic depression is the end result of lost topsoil. So good farmers use
conservation measures such as strip cropping, crop rotation, grassed waterways, wind
breaks, cover crops, contour planting, terracing, and other methods to control wind and
water erosion.

59.
55 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
In Utah 5 tons of topsoil is lost each year. What does this mean? Some of our most pro-
ductive soils are being lost each year. We have slowed erosion over the past 30 years, but we
are still losing some of our topsoil. Fertile topsoil is what gives us higher yields or more food
per acre. What will we do when our topsoil is gone? Farm the subsoil and get lower yields?
That’s a possibility, but that is why agricultural scientists are working hard to find out how we
can sustainably grow and produce food. This area of agricultural research is called sustain-
able agriculture. Sustainable agriculture involves studying methods and practices to
keep topsoil in its place, increase soil fertility, and use lower energy inputs to produce our
food. Soil is important economically and for our very survival!
Some good news, half a ton of topsoil is made each year. Topsoil loss is greater than our
gain, but farmers buy time with conservation methods. We still lose topsoil, just at a slower
rate. The goal of farmers and researchers is to find methods whereby we lose no more
topsoil than what is made. Sustainable practices such as adding compost, managing cover
crops, and no-till (tillage) farming are methods currently being used and studied to save our
topsoil. But really, how can we put a value on soil or land, it’s kind of like placing a value on
human life.
Vocabulary
Strip cropping: planting crops in strips, several rows, alternating with other crops that have a
different root type. Fibrous roots hold the soil better than crops with tap roots.
Cover crops: land that is planted with a fibrous root crop (like clover, various grasses, vetch,
etc.) that will hold soil and is usually a legume that will add nitrogen to the soil.

61.
57 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Getting Started
Gather materials, and make the necessary copies. The Agricul-
ture Products Map should be copied on a copier that handles
11 by 17 inch paper. Reducing the map makes it difficult to
read.
Procedures
Activity 1 - Utah Grown
1. Share some of the background information with your stu-
dents.
2. Give each student a copy of the Utah Agricultural Products
Map to complete.
3. Post the Map Questions on the overhead, feel free to make
up some of your own. Ask your students to complete the
tasks and answer the questions.
Activity 2 - Where does my food come from?
1. Give each student a copy of the United States activity map
to complete.
2. Discuss the regional patterns.
Discussion (use the Roof-top Farming transparency)
1. What determines which crops are grown where? (water
availability, soil type, slope, climate, elevation, etc.)
2. Who determines what farmers grow? (markets, meaning
consumers, government quotas and farmers also have
favorites and traditions)
3. Using the U.S. map can you identify where the corn belt,
and wheat belt are located?
Background
Utah has 54 million acres of land, and is the 13th
largest
state. Approximately 65 percent of the state is owned by the
federal government. About 22% of Utah’s land area is in farms
and ranches, but less than 3% is cropland. Crops account for
about 30% of the value of Utah’s agricultural output. Most crop
farms are concentrated in a narrow strip (the Wasatch Front)
extending roughly about 100 miles north and south of Salt
Lake City at the base of the Wasatch Range. The melting
Objectives
Students will be able to
identify the crops grown
in all Utah counties.
Students will be able to
explain how climate,
water and soil type help
to determine where
plants and crops are
grown.
Students will be able to
identify the major crops
grown in the United
States.
Students will learn map
reading techniques.
Materials
• Utah Agricultural
Products Map
• Utah Agricultural
Products Map Ques-
tions.
• “Where in the U.S. did
my food come from?”
map.
• Roof-top Farming
Transparency
Time
Activity 1: 50 minutes
Activity 2: 30 minutes
What Land Works Best?
Hitting Pay Dirt

62.
58Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
snows provide irrigation water for the valleys below. This is also where some of the best
soils in the state are located. Three-fifths of the cropland is devoted to wheat and hay. Hay
is the number one crop grown. Native grass and alfalfa are the most popular kinds of hay
to grow. Alfalfa grows best under irrigation, cold winters and warm summers. It is drought-
resistant, which means it can grow even when there’s not much rain.
A large area of mountainside terraces is occupied by fruit orchards, especially in Box
Elder County. Box Elder County is home to the Utah Fruitway. This area grows some of the
finest peaches, apricots, melons, squash and other fruits and vegetable anywhere. Utah
County is also known for its fruit production. To the north and east in Cache Valley,
unirrigated grain is grown among irrigated fields of alfalfa. Another popular crop grown in
Utah is onions. Most of the onions grown in Utah end up in restaurant food chains. Davis
and Weber counties lead in the production of onions.
Livestock and livestock products account for about 70% of the state’s annual agricultural
output. Dairy farming is very important in the irrigated valleys west and north of Salt Lake
City. Beef cattle graze wherever adequate grass and water exist. Sheep are raised in less-
favored environments, particularly the desert basins of the west. Sanpete County is known
for it large number of turkeys. Some of Utah’s best farmland is being lost to rapid growth
and development. Between 1988 and 1998 Utah lost 300,000 acres (500 square miles) of
farmland, a sizable amount for a state where only 5 percent of the land is considered good
to excellent for agricultural production.
Throughout the nation there is a lot of concern about the loss of farmland to develop-
ment. It is reported that every day over 2,450 acres of forests, farms, and countryside
disappear as a result of eradication by suburban sprawl, roads and highways and industrial
development. The breakdown of that acreage shows 1,320 acres for housing, 660 acres
for paved highways, 300 acres for warehouses and factories and 170 acres bulldozed for
shopping malls and industrial parks.
Much of the land being taken is prime agricultural land. Years ago, our communities
were built next to the best ground so farmers would be near their farms. Today, 85 percent
of the nation’s fruit and vegetables and nearly 80 percent of its dairy products are produced
in counties subject to urban pressure. (See the Roof-top Farming Transparency. Your class
can help you with the caption, something like, “Who decides where farmers farm?” or
“Watch your next right turn!”)
Many people think that the loss of farmland is primarily a farmer issue. Loss of farmland
should be of concern to everyone, it can affect food prices, property taxes and the environ-
ment we live in. By the year 2050 food prices are projected to increase three to five fold.
When development takes place, government receives an increase in taxes, but usually
spends more on services to support that development.
Vocabulary
alfalfa: legume crop high in protein, especially desired by dairy farmers.

63.
59 Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Answers to selected Utah Agricultural Products Map Questions
1. Simply put, in Utah crops are grown where we have water. Water is primarily located
geographically around the mountains. Crops are grown in the valleys with adequate
water, adequate (loam) soils, and in areas where slopes are at a minimum. Orchards are
an exception. Many orchards in Utah are planted on the foothills, still, they are near
water.
2.
3.
4.
5. Hay is drought tolerant. Hay is also needed to feed the states large livestock industry.
6. Utah has a lot of rangeland. The plants that grow on the ranges produce good beef but
the grass is not high enough in protein to produce a high volume and quality of milk.

64.
60Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
More Fun Using the Utah Agricultural Products
1. Geographically, where are the largest variety of crops
grown?
2. Using the scale and a ruler, how far is it in miles from the
northern part of Box Elder County to the most southern
side of Kane County? (How long is the state of Utah)
3. Using the scale and a ruler, how far is it in miles from the
western side of Millard County to the eastern side of
Grand County?
4. Using the scale and a ruler, how far is it in miles from the
southern part of Washington County to the southern tip
of Salt Lake County?
5. Why do you think hay is produced in most counties?
6. Why do you think there are more beef cows than dairy
cows in Utah?

68.
64Utah Agriculture in the Classroom
Getting Started
Gather materials, and make the necessary copies. For this
activity, you will need a sample of soil for each group of stu-
dents. The best results will be obtained if soil is collected from
late spring to early fall by the students. Samples should be
taken from the topsoil in area with higher organic matter will
yield better results. Cultivated gardens or fields may not yield
as much diversity of life unless compost of other organic
material has been added. Great collections can be obtained
under logs, under greenhouse benches, or around compost
piles. Students should watch for signs of life while collecting
the soil and record any observations. Keep the soil samples
moist until you conduct the in-class part of this activity. The
first day is spent setting up equipment to separate out larger
organisms. The second day is spent looking at microorgan-
isms with a magnifying glass. After the activity, return the soil
samples and the organisms to their environment. For the
second activity, samples may be sent to the USU Soil Testing
Lab or soil testing kits can be obtained from Utah Agriculture in
the Classroom or purchased from science supply catalogs.
Procedures
Activity 1 - The living soil
1. Divide the class into four or five groups.
2. Each group should designate someone to collect the soil
sample or go on a walking trip around your school to make
the collection.
3. Watch for signs of life as you collect the soil for this activity.
Dump the sample on a piece of white paper. Record your
observations and make note of the number of different
invertebrates you see.
4. Back in the class, assemble the apparatus as shown on
page 62. Make sure the lamp is 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch away
from the soil otherwise it will dry out too fast and cause
some organisms to die.
5. Place wet paper towel in the bottom of the container under
the funnel, and then place the screen inside the funnel and
fill loosely with your soil sample. Label jar with your groups
name.
Objectives
Students will be able to
infer that the diversity of
life in soil contributes to
soil fertility.
Materials
• sample of soil from top
layer of soil high in
organic matter
• funnel and capture
container (same ones
used in “Perkin
Through the Pores”
• small piece of coarse
screen, 1-1/2 inch
square
• light source with a
shade (direct light)
• hand lenses
• wet paper towel
• ziploc bag
• soil nutrient testing kit
(optional)
• Creatures in the Soil
transparency
Time
Activity 1: 50 minutes
Activity 2: 30 minutes
Secrets to Healthy Soils
Healthy Food from Healthy Soil